Good Dog
by cgaussie01
Summary: Set 8yrs before my story Stakes & Leather. This is how Bernard got brought into  the world of vampire hunting, and met Wayne, Megamind and Minion.


The first thing Bernard became aware of, when he awoke was that he was naked.

This would cause anybody some strong sense of alarm, but pile on top of that the fact that you were on a cold floor and without any clothing, well this only helped double the shock running through his system as he sat bolt up right and looked around. Without his glasses though, Bernard could not see very far, so he felt the immediate ground around him for them. They were no where to be found, so that only added more fuel to the fire that was his anxiety and fear that licked at his heart and turned his stomach to lead.

"It's all right. Don't be afraid."

The man's voice startled Bernard and he spun his head around in the direction in which the man's smooth, deep voice had come from. A man's voice? He had a headache. He was naked. He was in a strange place. Man, what had he _drunk_ last night to end up in this situation?

"Where am I?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you." was the answer of the blur Bernard could only just make out.

"Why?" Bernard asked.

"It's easier if you don't know. To be honest I really don't know what to do with you."

"...you didn't have your way with me did you?" his ass certainly didn't sting like it normally would after an encounter with a man.

"Hah!" snorted the man's voice. "No, no. Nothing like that. I brought you here to keep you safe."

"Oh god are you that murderer who's been going around killing people?" Bernard asked.

Lately there had been a wave of murders in Metro City. Men and women alike would be found with their necks slashed, and left for dead in their homes, or wherever they had been jumped. For a frightening moment Bernard thought this was the one doing it; but then why would he kidnap him? Nobody else was kidnapped. Maybe this wasn't the man but that didn't mean he should feel any less at ease.

"No. I'm not. Come on Bernard, I've got you a dressing gown and-"

"How do you know my name? Have you got my wallet?" Bernard asked and slowly shifted away as the blur grew closer.

"No. When I found you, you were pretty much... hm. As dressed as you are now." replied the voice.

Bernard could feel his cheeks flush in embarrassment and rage. "You should have taken me to the hospital." he said through gritted teeth as the dressing gown was passed to him. Quickly he got to his feet, turning his body away from the man to pull on the clothing.

"I'm afraid they don't take wolves." said the man.

Spinning around with a flourish Bernard growled in a way he hadn't done before. "Just what the Hell do you mean by _that_?" he demanded.

"Wayne!" a second voice came from up the stairs. "I just got back; I got some of the wolf's stuff. Where should I dump it?"

"Wolf?" Bernard asked. There was that word again, why were they using that word?

"Hold on."

He heard the man retreat upstairs (where was he, on a ground floor or in a basement?) before returning. The big blur of white and peach returned, and held something out to him. "Your glasses."

Bernard didn't ask how they'd gotten them but he snatched them up and pulled them onto his face. Finally the world became clear and he saw he was indeed in a basement. It was lined with shelves that were full of jars and various other things. There was a blanket on the floor that he might have been resting on at some point... he finally turned to glare at the man and felt his heart seize within his chest when he did.

The man was a towering vision of strength and beauty unlike any Bernard had seen before. He had wavy black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a strong chin. It looked as though the man could lift a car with little effort. Bernard stared at the man with wide eyes for a moment, almost forgetting that he was keeping him against his will, and snapped out of it. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is Wayne. Wayne Abbatista, and you're in my home." Wayne finally introduced himself with a smile that seemed to reflect sunlight.

"Wayne. Right... Wayne." Bernard mumbled. "Your home. Why am I here? Where is your home? You owe me a _lot_ of answers."

"I do, I do. I'm sorry, here. Let's get you out of here..."

Wayne watched as the thin, confused and bespectacled man looked around one last time before moving up onto the stairs and followed behind him. He had certainly undergone one Hell of a transformation. When he had knocked out the werewolf the night previous the beast had been bigger than him; yet now, Bernard barely came up to his shoulders. It was a testament to just how violent a chance can happen to somebody who suffered lycanthropy. Did he even know he suffered it? He didn't seem insulted by Megamind's taunt of the word 'wolf'.

_Megamind._

Too late did Wayne realize that Megamind probably wasn't expecting the man to walk up into the manor ahead of him. There was no way to give a signal. How would Bernard react to seeing an alien? What if he freaked out or fainted?

Bernard looked around the lavishly decorated hallway he had walked into, and observed the portraits on the walls. So many men and women, all of them holding weapons and... remains of fallen victims. That dreadful feeling in his stomach returned, and he looked up at Wayne as he joined him. "What kind of place is this?"

"Nowhere bad, believe me." Wayne turned his head left and right. "Are you hungry, or thirsty?"

"I could go for something in my stomach but not before questions are answered. Why am I here? Are you hoping to trap me here and use me as a sex slave?" Bernard asked.

Wayne stared at him blankly, before his cheeks flushed a violent red color. "What? No! No, I. I don't do that!"

"Hm." narrowing an eye, Bernard watched him.

"Truth of the matter is, last night you came across me and my brother while we were working. You were naked and fighting a woman. And you were... um. A wolf." Wayne tried his best to explain it in a way so not to shock the man but found it impossible.

Bernard stared at him blankly. "What kind of juice do _you_ drink, Wayne?"

"I don't drink. Kind of impossible since my metabolism burns at such a rate that alcohol has no affect on me." Wayne replied.

"Huh?" Bernard blinked.

Wayne sighed, and gestured for Bernard to follow him. "See Bernard... there's a lot to the world many people don't know. You know the things that go bump in the night? Ghosts, monsters, demons and things like that?"

"I haven't believed in that stuff since I was a bed wetter." replied Bernard as he glanced at portrait after portrait.

"Well I'm afraid some things are true. Vampires, werewolves, aliens. Those three things are real, and you're one of them." Wayne explained as he pushed a door open for the man. "I guess you haven't been recently attacked by a large dog, have you?" he asked.

"No of course not. I don't go out often enough." Bernard said, choosing to play along with the deluded handsome man's story.

"Had any unprotected sexual encounters?" he asked.

Bernard flushed. "No."

"Good boy." Wayne smiled faintly. "So... if you haven't been bitten, or had sex... were you in hospital, recently?"

"That's my business." Bernard muttered.

"Not now it isn't." Wayne spoke at a harsher, more serious tone that seemed to turn Bernard's legs to jelly at the way he spoke. "Please. Were you in hospital? Either you tell us, or we can find out."

"I had a bit of an accident a few weeks ago... I needed a blood transfusion. What business is that of yours I don't-"

"A blood transfusion. Of course!" Wayne smacked his fist with his hand. "That makes sense!"

"So you really think I'm a werewolf, huh?" Bernard asked. "And vampires are real, as are aliens? What proof of that is there anywhere? I mean come on, aliens are nothing more than a story made up by lunatics who think they're taken up in UFO's and probed by aliens. Drunk lunatics, that's where they come-"

"Excuse me Wayne I was wondering if you have any-oh!"

A talking fish in a robotic gorilla suit had just walked around the corner wearing an apron that claimed 'kiss the cook' and was carrying a laundry hamper. The glowing green fish stared at Bernard for a moment before squeaking in shock and turned, before hurrying away, heavy metal body rattling as it did.

"...what... was..."

"That was our alien fish, Minion." Wayne said with an awkward smile.

Bernard said nothing as Wayne showed him through to the kitchen and eased him into a chair by the kitchen counter. "Like I told you, there's a lot to the world people don't know. Aliens, vampires, and werewolves are one of them. Mass media has projected them to us in movies and television shows, but what they're really like remains to be seen. For example, I'm an alien." Wayne explained as he put the kettle on.

"...you? But you're... you're insane. You're insane. Or I am." Bernard rubbed his forehead, frowning. "My uncle thought he was Napoleon, maybe it's happening to me..."

"No, no. I am." Wayne tried to reassure him. "Look."

So he looked and watched as the man before him began to slowly hover off the ground. Bernard looked for the mirrors, or the wires, but didn't see any... "So you can fly. That just means you're a magician or... something."

Wayne then unplugged the kettle and held it in front of him. A red burst of light came shooting out of his eyes and hit the kettle, boiling the water instantly, and caused the whistle to blow. He hummed as he flew over to the cupboard and pulled out two mugs. "Tea or coffee?"

"You're... no. No, this has got to be... some kind of magic. You've had years to perfect this. You're a magician." Bernard fought against what he saw, but felt like he was loosing a battle.

"Nope. I'm just an ordinary guy working in a war people have no idea about."

"War. What war?" asked Bernard.

"Vampires of course." he shrugged.

"Of course."

"Are you going to be telling him everything?" demanded another voice Bernard didn't know. The man turned in his chair to see a man standing there dressed head to foot in leather. His head was bald as an egg but his eyebrows were a rich black color, as was the small goatee he had.

Wayne felt a wave of relief that Minion had found his brother, and told him to wear a disguise. If Bernard saw a blue skinned, large headed alien... well. He might faint. And fainting from that height on the chair could do some damage.

"Who are you?" Bernard asked.

"Never you mind about that. What is my brother telling you?" Megamind asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"That he's a magician and there's a war of vampires going on." Bernard replied.

"I'm not a magician I'm an alien." Wayne said. "So is Minion."

"Tricks. Nothing but tricks and lies. There's no such thing as aliens, there's no little green or blue men flying around with large heads and skinny bodies. They're just a figment created by Hollywood and anybody who thinks they're real needs some serious mental help." Bernard said to the new man whose name he hadn't been given.

"No such thing huh?" the man asked.

"No."

"Then," the man held up his wrist and touched his watch. At the same instant Wayne was reaching out to the man but didn't get there in time. His image fizzled, and seemed to melt away to reveal a skinny, big headed, blue skinned, big green eyed man standing there in the same clothing as before. "Explain me."

Wayne just managed to grab Bernard's wrist before the man fainted and gathered him up into his arms before sending a glare at his brother. "God damn it Ethelwine!" Wayne groaned, "Did you have to?"

"Don't call me that." Megamind said as he walked up to peer at the skinny man in his brothers arms. "I shouldn't hide in my own damn house. So this is him, hm? Wolf man?" he poked Bernard's cheek.

"Stop that. Now I have to settle him down somewhere again..."

"Well not in my room."

"I wouldn't dare." Wayne sighed.

"He's much smaller than I thought he would be. I half expected him to be about your size." Megamind said as Wayne began to carry the man through the manor through to the dining room to lay him out on the couch.

"It seems to double his size... at least his muscle mass." Wayne said as he propped a pillow beneath the man's head.

"Did you watch the change?" Megamind asked.

"No. That's not my business." Wayne muttered as he brushed some hair out of the man's face. "Poor guy, he had a blood transfusion, I think that's where it came from."

"So a werewolf is giving blood, despite probably knowing what they are? That's just great." Megamind lifted his arms above his head. "Great! Now we have to do a medical check on this Bernard Dunning guy, find out which hospital he was admitted to, and what blood they used so it doesn't happen again! Hard enough to track down 'large wolf sightings' last night on top of vampire hunting, if it wasn't for that couple he was almost run over in a car by we might never have known what part of town he came from in the first place."

"Stop your bitching." Wayne chided as he looked at Bernard with a sigh. "Now I have to calm him down from seeing a blue alien."

"He might as well know what's going on." Megamind shrugged. "He's a werewolf; he needs to know vampires exist as well. Who knows? He may be of use."

"What?" turning his head to look up at his brother Wayne glared.

"Not saying anything against your spy techniques, brother of mine," Megamind replied as he patted Wayne's head affectionately. "But all the more help could be useful. After a background check I found out he works at the local library. That's good isn't it?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"It would be but it's still not right to ask that of him after making him pass out in shock." Wayne said sourly, "Let it sink in, all right?"

"Fine, fine. Baby the wolf man if you must. Half surprised you haven't wrapped him up and fed him with a bottle yet." the blue alien smirked.

"Cut it out." replied the other, tone wavering on threatening.

"Stop it the both of you!" Minion, still wearing his 'kiss the cook' apron, appeared before the two. "Now I know things have been antsy lately but that's no reason to start sniping at each other like this! We have an unconscious man on the couch that needs to be taken home. Which one of you is going to do it?"

Sometimes it surprised Wayne just how much like a parent Minion could act on some days.

"I will." Wayne said, knowing his brother would never offer to help in this situation.

"You bet your blue eyes you will." Megamind said, turning his head away. "Bringing a werewolf home, I can't believe it."

"Hey come on. He was disorientated. What would you want me to do, leave him out there for somebody to find him still as a werewolf? Wake up outside naked in the cold and with no way of getting home? Honestly, for somebody fighting for the human race you can be a bit of a jerk." Wayne looked up at his brother, watching his face carefully. He saw that slight twitch to Megamind's right eye that meant he had touched a nerve and was glad to see it.

Megamind huffed and threw his arms up. "Fine! Do whatever you want! Bring total strangers into our life, see if I care! I'm going to go wash the blood off of my clothes and get the ashes out of my eyes since I was left all alone in the middle of nowhere last night and had to drive myself home!" with that he turned, jacket billowing as he did, and stormed out of the room.

"He's just a little, teensy bit bitter you abandoned him like that." Minion explained.

"Thanks, yeah. I see that." Wayne mumbled. He did feel kind of bad abandoning his brother like he had, but the needs of the werewolf had been greater then that of his brother at that point. He made a note to himself to make it up to him later.

"You shouldn't see yourself like that." Wayne said as he stood besides Bernard in the Metro City Library, looking down at the book that Bernard was holding in his hands.

"No?" Bernard asked as he stared at the drawing of a large, black wolf ripping a woman apart. "Isn't that what I am?"

"You're suffering from lycanthropy. That doesn't make you a monster."

"Wolf man, Werewolf, Hairy men. No matter what name is given to them, a werewolf is a monster." Bernard spoke softly as he turned the page that showed a man in great pain as he was transforming, the full moon looking in through the window of the man's house. "A man who becomes a wolf and turns on anyone it encounters. How is that not a monster?"

"They only attack because they become a canine in mind. Exhausted and disorientated by the change to a wolf makes them lash out like that, and their desire for territory brings them to drive people away from them. Hunger also makes them hunt. It's all down to what's in the brain, not the heart." Wayne went on to explain gently. "You're still a good man, aren't you?"

"To some I'm not even that." he shut the book and replaced it on the shelf with the other occult books, before pulling out a vampire one.

"Why?" asked Wayne.

"My personality isn't exactly sunshine and lollypops." Bernard pointed out. "Plus I'm gay. Shocking as it is, in this day and age a lot of people still see homosexuals as something that's wrong."

Wayne scoffed. "Don't tell me you care what people think about you."

"I do if they think I'm a monster." mumbled the librarian.

"You're no monster, Bernard. You're a hard worker, you pay your dues, you didn't report me or my brother to the authorities, and to me I think you've got a great personality. A little sharp and rough at some places but I know you're a good man. And gay? Who cares? I don't." Wayne grinned slightly. "I mean, why would I if I'm that way inclined too?"

Bernard very slowly turned his gaze to Wayne, and blinked slowly. "You're gay?" he asked.

"Is it that big a shock?" Wayne asked.

"No real answer to that kind of question. Guess that explains why you always dress so well. I thought you were metro sexual or something..." he looked over the pristine suit that Wayne was wearing that day, before looking up at him. Not a hair out of place. Smooth, well shaved face and he smelt of aftershave and talcum powder. One thing his lycanthropy had done was increase his sense of smell, as well as hearing. This was both a blessing and a curse.

"Metro sexual man living in Metro City; seems to suit doesn't it?" grinned Wayne. "But no. Never been interested in girls, unlike my brother who drools over some of the girls he has to rescue."

"Shame he has to erase their memories afterwards." Bernard smirked.

"Yes well. That's all part of the job. People can't handle the fact that vampires exist, much less aliens. So he has to, to protect us as well as himself." Wayne said as he looked up at the shelves of books. "I don't want to see him get hurt."

"And you call me a good guy. How you can be nice with that guy I don't know."

"Hey, he _is_ my brother." Wayne said with a shrug. "You just have to get to know him more."

"Hm." Bernard mumbled.

"That's why I'm here asking you if you would join our cause."

Bernard blinked in surprise and looked up at the taller, handsome man. "Excuse me?"

"We both feel that you'd be a great asset to our war. You're working in a library and you've got your hands on all kinds of information that would prove useful to us in our cause. Not only that but your nose," he reached out and just lightly tapped Bernard's nose, "is so brilliant now you could smell out vampires if you were within the same five blocks as them."

So that was why last week Wayne had done that weird 'game' where he wore a certain kind of aftershave and told Bernard to try and smell him out when he could. It was a test, why hadn't he seen it for what it was? Thing was, if he truly concentrated, he could probably smell out all the smokers in a five block radius. He could hear children whispering across the library if he strained his ears enough, as well as his fellow staff members in the lunch room enjoying their break. Lycanthropy had improved most of his senses, minus his eyesight which seemed to be forever a mess for him.

But to think that this man before him wanted him to help him, to help assist in bringing down blood sucking monsters... he felt flattered.

"You don't have to accept now, of course." Wayne said after a moment. "You think it over and when you've made your decision you let me know."

"What about your brother?" Bernard asked.

"Hm?" Wayne raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"How does he feel about having a werewolf in the group?"

"He was hesitant, I must admit, but when I told him what you do and how great your senses are he came around." Wayne explained. "He sees how helpful you could be. But like I said; take your time. No point in-"

"I'm in."

"-rushing your decision I mean I understand if you-wait. What?" Wayne asked.

"I'm in." Bernard gave a shrug, before looking down at an illustration of a werewolf battling a vampire, and it looked like the large black dog had the upper hand since he was ripping the vampires arm out of its socket entirely. "Who knows? Could be fun."

That and he would get to see Wayne far more often. Every month the man would come collect him on the evening before a full moon, and would take him to the manor. There he would be strapped into a harness in the basement, strong enough to withstand his tripled body strength when he underwent his transformation into a wolf. Down there he wasn't a threat to anybody, and Wayne tended to bring him cows from the butchers for him to feast on since his body always became incredibly hungry after a change.

Besides that, the two really didn't see much of each other which were a shame. Bernard liked Wayne; he was smart, funny and witty… Plus it didn't help matters he was god damn gorgeous either. Hearing he was gay too, though, ignited a little fire within his chest. Who knows, maybe if they got to know more about each other they could get somewhere.

"Great! I'll let Megamind know you're in. That's just, ah. Awesome! Thanks Bernard, you've no idea how much help this is to us." Wayne was smiling that amazingly dazzling smile that could blind anyone, and Bernard simply smiled faintly back in return.

"I think I do." he replied.

And thus began Bernard's foray into vampire hunting, and he never looked back since.

**The End**


End file.
